Kason, a Millburn-based manufacturer of industrial equipment used in food production, has been sold to a private-equity arm of Robert W. Baird & Co., a financial firm with more than $100 billion in assets under management.

Baird Capital bought Kason, which was founded in 1967, from private-equity shop Spell Capital Partners in a deal valued the company at under $100 million, a Baird spokewoman said yesterday.

According to Baird Capital partner Andrew Brickman, the plan is to prime Kason, which has between 50 and 75 employees in New Jersey, Canada and Europe, for expansion in food and dairy production, and possibly into other industries such as pharmaceuticals and energy. The company also may look to grow sales in Japan, South Korea and some parts of Europe, he said.

"We think they've got capacity without adding a ton of people to grow very nicely," Brickman said in an interview, although he noted the company will look to hire as well.

Kason makes equipment used to separate bulk solids from slurries and other material, and specializes in processors and filtrations that use centrifugal force. It also makes fluid-bed processors for cooling, drying or moisturizing bulk solids. In practical terms, these are machines that help keep lumps and foreign materials out of sugar and separate brans from flour. The machines also sort, for example, oversized chocolate chips from a batch of miniature ones, Brickman said.

Baird said Henry Alamzad is staying on as Kason's president, while Jon Weiner, industry executive who partnered with Baird on its acquisition, will take over as chief executive.